Saskia Sassen works in the fields of globalization, international migration and urban studies. She is the author of more than ten books, the most well-known being The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, which was first published in 1991 and republished ten years later as a new edition. In her research, Sassen posits the concept of an economy based on the concept of a global city: the contemporary global economy can be conceived of as a network of trade and finance chains whose links are composed of large (global) cities. Sassen has termed a city’s economic allure and its potential for becoming an important link in the chain as “urban knowledge capital.”
Each city can participate in several economic chains, whether regional or international, or it can specialize in one. The more diverse a city’s economy, the more chains it may participate in; such cities are more economically stable and better able to endure financial crises. Cities like New York and Sao Paulo participate in the coffee trade among other chains. A negative example is that of the highly specialized Detroit, which Sassen refers to figuratively as a plantation for growing the coffee beans of Hi-Tech.
The particularity of every global city is based on the diversification of the global economy itself: different sectors and firms for different purposes are favorable to certain cities. Chicago, Sao Paulo and Shanghai have historically specialized in industrial production, and, consequently, on related industries such as law, finance, insurance, and economic forecasting. But Hong Kong and New York are global cities with an altogether different “urban knowledge capital.” As a result the “ideal” global city is impossible to imagine, although a number of global cities is growing. “In the contemporary global phase of economic development there cannot be a global capital,” commented Sassen. According to her, each global city preserves its singularity even on the level of architecture, despite the unification of infrastructural facilities throughout the world.
To the costs of global cities Sassen has attributed the rapid growth of the high finance sector — large-scale financial operations on the fringes of ethics and speculation, and, in particular, with the property that served as collateral for credit that could not be redeemed.
The growing global city crystallizes on the basis of the sharp difference in the population densities of different neighborhoods — as seen in Mumbai or Shanghai, for example. On the other hand, the population density of contemporary London is comparatively uniform. According to Sassen, the British capital has remained “in the shadow of globalization.” In turn, Sassen has referred to high finance (rather than information technology) as “the steam engine of our time.” It provokes change. For example, in the United States in 2006, the expropriation of mortgaged assets happened in every 92 households. In this way, according to Sassen, the global city has increased the stratification of its inhabitants. At the beginning of the 21st century, 40% of all national revenue went to 10% of Americans. If a city becomes global, it is not all for the best. “The middle class is losing traction,” concluded Sassen.
Rustam Fakhretdinov
